𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐧, was when he was just born. a small infant child, handed into his arms. he had only been a few hours old, when anakin had to make perhaps, the worst decision he’s ever made — to hand his son and daughter over to his closely trusted friends, [ 𝘰𝘣𝘪-𝘸𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘪𝘭, 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺. ] and cut off all ties. to leave everything and everyone he knew behind and send himself into exile. he held onto the both of them, for as long as he could . . . he made obi-wan promise that he’d watch over luke, until the time was right, and he could be returned to the father. then, they were given over and now, nineteen years had passed.
nineteen years, and not a single day went by, where anakin didn’t think of his children . . . wondering what kind of people they turned out to be, what they liked to do? what their hopes and dreams were? he had lived under a different name and façade for so long, he feared that the day may never come, that he’d get to see his children again. [ 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮? ] but then, the rebellion came, they found him, tucked away in the darkest corner of the galaxy on a junkyard planet. they bargained, they begged and in the end, anakin joined their cause. leaving the planet he had stayed upon for nineteen years for the rebel base. [ 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦. ]
and it was here, on yavin four, whilst moving through the hallways did he hear of the events that just transpired. the princess, a scoundrel, a farmboy and a wookiee, just escaped from the death star. and when he heard their names, it took his breath away. [ 𝘭𝘶𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘪𝘢. ] his luke and leia? their surnames only confirmed it. luke skywalker and leia organa. the children of anakin skywalker and padmé amidala. here, now, as was he. nineteen years, had gone by, making way for this moment — but was he brave enough to confront his children? the answer was no. when they were celebrating in the hangar, anakin stayed aside, watching from the shadows.
at night, the rebel base calmed down, only a few floated in and out of the hallways. sleep hadn’t come easy to anakin in years, not since his padawan years and his mind was racing, knowing that just a few doors down, where his children. [ 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮? 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘪 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰. ] no, that wouldn’t work. so, he tucked himself away in the hangar, the only soul among the ships. he picked the first x-wing that looked like it needed some serious attention and got to work. laying on his back and pulling himself under the ship to begin doing what he did best.